Display case



Jail. 3, 1928.

J. H. VAN SICKELS DISPLAY CASE Filed. April 14. 1925 Patented Jan. 3, 1 928. A I: 2

UNITED STATES ATENT omen Joan E. vAn s ckens, or MoN'rREAnoUnBEc, oAn nA, ssIGNoR fro GENERAL CIGAR COMPANY LIMITED, or MONTREAL, CAN DA. 1

DISPLAY oAsE. Application med April 14, 1925. Serial No; 23,101.,

This invention relates to new-and useful case, 12 the sides, 13 and 1 1 the back and improvements in display cases and, particufrontrespectively'. It will be noticed that larly to cases having a plurality of indethe back of the case 'is made higher than pendently hinged covers, and the object of the front. and that the upper edges 15 of the 5 the invention is to provide a case of'the sides slope downwardly towardsthe front 01500 class stated having means which will: prethe case. Extending from side to side of the vent unauthorized unlocking of any or all case, and attached in any suitable manner f h covers to the upper edge 1510f said sides are the Another object is to providea case of the cover supports 16, which are shownin sec- 10 class stated which will have means'fo'r antotion, and are of channel formation in F igmaticall-y locking any one, or all of the ures 1 an'd2, but'this is for illustrative pur covers on the closing of same. poses only, and these supports may be made A further object is to provide a display ofany suitablecross section, which will be case which will be simple in construction, atstrong enough to support the covers. At-

15 tractive, and neat in appearance. and etfitached to the cover-supports bv means of the cient as regards preservation of the goods hinges 17, are the cover frames 18 which are contained therein. and the manner of disprovided with transparent centre portions playing same. 1 19, through which, the goods placed within In my invention I provide a display case the case may be displayed.

20 having a plurality of independently hinged The cover frames are of rectangular forplaced within the case will be l dis'played inner faces 21, andthe sheets of glass or through transparent material forming the other transparent material forming the cencentral portion of the covers. tre portions are held within the grooves by 25 Spring controlled locking levers form lockmeans of the cushioning members 22, which 0 ing means for the covers, the unlocking of may be nade of'rubber tubing or like rewhich, is controlled by a cain shaped lever silient material; A slot23 is cut or formed positioned at the back of the case, and conin the lower face, and in one side 24 of each nected to the locking levers in such a manner of the frames, so "that the hooked ends 25 3 that all ofthe covers may be unlocked'in of the locking levgrs 26'wj11' th ugh at unison. The case is provided with supports said slots, and engage with the edges 27 of and positioning means for. the goods, and the slots to lock the" covers. The levers 26 means are provided'within the case to preare pivotally mounted on brackets secured serve such articles aS cigars, cigarettes or to one side'of. the casing, and the hooked the like which require moistened atr'nos: ends passthrough slots in the upper edge 15 phere to assist them in retaining their qualof the casing, said upper edges being ity and market value. strengthened by being turned first inwardly,

covers formed in such a manner that goods mati'on, with grooves 2 0"formed in their 1 In the drawings p and then downwardly, as shown in detail in Figure 1, is a. perspective viewof my im-' FigureB', i Y a v 4 proved display case with parts shown in sec- The lower ends 28 of the levers extend be tion. yond the Ibrackets."and are coupled together Figure 2, is a longitudinal sectional view by meansof the link 29 pivotally attached to of the case taken on the line 2-2 Figure 1. the levers by means of the p'i'nsBO, so that on Figure 3, is a. sectional end viewtaken on' movement of said link' allthe lockinglevers 45 the l1ne 3-3, Figure 2. i i g will move in'unison. 9 I i c Figure 4, is a perspective View ofon'e of I Bivotally attached to,,'and in close prox- I the covers. imity to one endfof' the link is the connect- Figure 5, is a perspective view of one of 111g rod 31, one end ofwhich is adapted to the locking levers. pass through an aperture 32 formed or cut 5 Figure 6, is a perspective view of the cam in the back of the casing. An operating lever controlling the locking levers. handle '33 is pivotally attached to the end Referring more particularly to the drawof the connecting rod by means of the pin ings which illustrate one form of my inven- 3 1. The handle is so formed that the dis tion, namely, a display case suitable for tance between the centre of the pin 34, and

counter use, 11 designates the bottom of the the surface 24. is less than the distance between said centre. and the surface 36', so that the handle when turned, or rotated on the pin 34 will pull the connecting rod towards the back of the box, thereby operating the locking levers through the attached link.

' A collar 37 may be secured to the con I ner that the upper surfaces 40 of said supports lie parallel with the upper edges of the sides of the casing, so that boxes of cigars, cigarettes or the like will be held in such a manner that their contents will be displayed to the best advantage through the covers. Pockets 41, securedto theinner surfaces of the sides of the casing and at one end thereof, by means of the brackets 42, are provided as holders for the humi dors 43, which consist of open ended frames 44 of rectangular formation between the sides of which an absorbent material 45 may supports, the hinge supporting members,

be placed. i Slots 46 may be formed in the frames to assist in distributing the moisture held by the absorbent material. The frames44 may be made of thin flexible material, so that the upper edge 47 may be bent to open the frame to facilitate refilling of same when required. Distance pieces 48 may be attached to thesides of the casing to form a positioning means for boxes of less area than that bounded by the cover and the back or front of the casing. Modifications may be made without departing from the spir t of the invention.

In operation, boxes of cigars or cigarettes or the like. are placed on the upper edges of the supports, and the sides of the boxes are held in position by, the coming in contact with the vertically disposed portions of the upper edges of the case, or cover supports. The covers are then'closed by dropping them. In dropping, the edges of the slots contact with the curved ends of the locking levers, and cause same to move against the spring on the connecting rod until they spring into the locking position. The case covers can only be unlocked byoperating the cam lever.

It will be seenthat a case, constructed in g the manner disclosed cannot, be opened except by an authorized person, as the lever is placed in such a position that it can only be operated from the back of the counter upon which the case is placed. It will also be seen that one or all of the case covers can be unlocked if desired. The case is so constructed that the goods may be displayed to the best advantage, and by providing humidors within the casing the cigarettes, cigars or the like will be kept in good condition.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 2+ 1. A merchandise display case equipped with a plurality of doors extending transversely across the top of the case and independentl hinged thereto so as to be capable of individual movement to and from closed position, a plurality of latches pivoted to one side of the case and having the upper terminals, thereof hooked to automatically engage over portions of the doors when the latter are moved to closed position, a link interconnecting said latches and pivoted thereto, a connecting rod pivoted at one end to the link and having the other end protruding outwardly through an opening formed in the rear of the case, handle means carried by the outer end of said connecting rod and operable to impart reciprocal movement to the rod and a spring encircling the rod be tween an abutment thereon and the rear wall of. the case and serving to normally maintain the latches in a door-engaging position.'

2. A merchandise display case provided at the top with spaced transversely extending door supports, doors. hinged to said supports adapted, in closed position, to bridge the spaces between the supports and to form a closed top for the case. said doors being capable of independent movement to and from closed position, latch members intermediatcly pivoted to one side of the case and having their upper terminals hooked and co-acting with openings formed in the doors to lock 'said doors upon movement thereof to closed posit-ion, a link pivoted to and interconnecting the lower terminals of said latches, spring means for yieldably maintaining said latches in door securing positionand handle means connected to said link and operable to simultaneously move all of the latches to door releasing position against. the resistance of said spring means.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN H. VAN SICKELS. 

